truck driver

maintenance mechanic

industrial mechanic

laboratory technician

maintenance technician

Upstate Niagara Cooperative

The job is stress-free and easy to learn, and they really give you the tools to be your own Boss. Pay is excellent and benefits are even better. Definitely a place that makes you feel at home from your first interview. From Orientation to your first day they make sure you know they want you to retire there. They take care of their own, and the atmosphere is very lax. Union reps are all very nice and helpful, but supervising team needs work. Supervisors are very detached and hardly know their employees as the whole atmosphere is also a them versus us type of situation with the union. Human resources is excellent and Union reps and wgl's are always more than happy to help. Room for advancement is a plenty with flexible hours and shifts as the plant is operational 24/7. Now for the cons. Though they are few, they were significant enough to have had an impact on my work attitude. As a former operator of one of the machines that runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, the machines get hardly any preventative maintenance. So when the machine does jump timing or gets screwy, it has the potential to slow, and even stop production for some time which winds everyone else in the plant up to the point of coming to you with a bad attitude, not to help or offer assistance, but to gripe and complain and tell you that you need to get moving because their line is stopped because of you. Not the best ingredient to a situation you're in the middle of assessing, and management does little to stop that. A bit understaffed, as some machines which should require two people to run as there is an upstairs and downstairs control panel, with preventative work constantly needing to be done on both platforms to ensure efficiency and study production, our only staffed with one operator, who's also having to run two other machines just like it simultaneously. All that aside, a great place to work, one of the best I've ever worked for, and I wish I hadn't messed it up. 

Years ago, this was one of the best local delivery type jobs in the area. Unfortunately, like many, new management has made it by far, the worst. The equipment is so old and falling apart, no maintenance on any equipment. The employees have gone from part of the family, to just an employee #, or "square on the computer screen" as its been said by higher ups. People are walking out every month. 10, 20 even 30 year guys are walking away from the destruction upper management has done to the company, the workforce and the overall working environment. Its very sad actually. Many of us planned to retire from here, but those thoughts are all gone. Applicant beware.

I would not waste my time here. The employees and management have been there for 7-25 years and they are all stuck in their ways. The employees that have been there for years get away with absolute murder and make their own schedules. The pay for the position I worked in blowmold started at $18 but your more than just a operator your also a tech to the machines but aren’t trained so the $18 is absolutely pathetic and not worth it. After experiencing the worst job I’ve ever had I decided to part ways with the company. I found a new job, put in a 2 week notice just for HR to call and say no need for a 2 week don’t come back. Very unprofessional, terrible pay and all around just not what anyone needs in their life. Dairy milk is a dying breed and they’ve already lost Wegmans which was there biggest customer. This company is going down. 

So essentially starting you will be bottom of the seniority list and you will get all of the forced overtime... Eventually you will be overworked and questioning why you would even want to stay here on top of extremely poor management and that's when you will start the question why did I even accept this job sure the benefits are amazing and the pay is pretty good but when you don't see your family and can't even take a day off because it goes by seniority and people there will purposely take days off so you can't get off you will realize this place is a joke and there needs to be change... You don't even get consecutive days off so your body can heal...

Management likes to preach how the company is like one big family. But the only thing Upstate has in common with a family is the occasional fights that break out at the holiday dinner table. Management will say they care about you but when I was struggling they made my work life miserable. Managers are supposed to talk with you if they have a problem but at Upstate they just report you to HR until either you break and quit or they fire you. Certain managers are only mangers because they have been around for 20+ years. They have no ability to deal with people or conflict. When they make a mistake they just try to shift the blame rather than taking responsibility for their actions.

Working on a project, making changes to a program per a user's request or to fix an issue, run invoicing, update files & create reports, being on call 24/7, etc...
I had a very good understanding of the fluid milk system that I supported.
Management/workplace culture was ok to work for, but I could see they favored some employees over others.
Being on call 24/7 & I had to fix any issues that stopped the users from the system I supported.
Seeing the people I trained for weeks/months to do invoicing in the evenings, etc..., knowing that they can do it by themselves now but are free to call me if they have any questions or issues.


The West Seneca Plant is currently going through a lot of changes which makes everyday unique. I believe things are getting better from where they were when I first started. There is much more engagement between company and union so that we align on issues and address them as a united front. That said, there will always be areas that we can get better but I believe we have a staff from top to bottom that are willing to work together to make things better. I also commend our corporate management team for their support as of late to help the plant work on the areas it has been struggling in. All in all, I believe this to be one of the best dairy plants to work at, not only in the area but in the North East. 

This company has great dairy products. But all they care about now is profit and have forgotten how they got to where they are now. They care less and less about: customer service, their employees and their equipment yet by caring about these things is how they became successful. It’s very disappointing. I would not recommend this job to anyone. Poor quality of life.  Management is terrible (transportation supervisor) . They don’t care about safety, just the bottom line profit! Not how well you do your job or how hard you work or how well you service their customers. Maintenance on their equipment is terrible. Farmer owned: Wake Up Farmers !

This place is a joke and over the years it's just gotten worse. If you have a family, they have fantastic insurance benefits. But at the same time, you are only a number. They do not care about you or time off. You try to schedule stuff way in advance, and when the time comes, they say, what time off. They try to take your days away thinking that your not keeping track. Getting your paychecks on time, is a joke!!! Getting them correct, is a joke!!! Most of the workers here are great on the floor, but otherwise, management does not know what goes on the floor. Neither do they care. It's all about numbers and product. They will do anything to get it out. Even push their employees over the limit. 

Lots of complacency and favoritism comes from management.  Lots of bullying from co-workers and this is encouraged by management. Not culturally diverse.  No structure or training from managers.  Toxic work environment with downright nasty people.  During my 11 months at the company I strived to be my best and looked forward to taking on more tasks.  Management and co-workers expected me to let other veterans there do all the work.  And they were happy with me doing nothing all day, as the favorites were given all the work.  So glad I moved on to a company that appreciates hard work and professionalism.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Truck driver 25 salaries reported	$28.22 per hour
Maintenance mechanic 19 salaries reported	$28.69 per hour
Industrial mechanic 12 salaries reported	$29.24 per hour
Laboratory technician 15 salaries reported	$26.69 per hour
Maintenance technician 11 salaries reported	$30.02 per hour

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